Our Vision

High up in the mountains of the Memel Drakensberg in South Africa, a lingering shadow of apartheid still darkens the isolated towns of Memel and Zamani.

Families and elderly survive in small tin shacks, with no water or lights or toilets, subject to extremes of weather.

Rural unemployment approaches 75%, and most work lacks meaning.

Diets are unhealthy, and few people have gardens or food security.

Schools are segregated, and any extracurricular activities are only for boys.

One day, to build community and address these problems, friends from around the world formed Memel.Global, a social enterprise L3C, and started to raise money and share ideas.

Because of that, the government provided land and full political support. Memel.Global trained locals to build well-insulated, natural homes, surrounded by bountiful permaculture gardens, and young Americans came to teach sports to schoolgirls.

And that is just the beginning of the story. With your help:

Workers can have steady, meaningful employment and confidence for the future.

Families and the elderly will live in comfortable homes built by their neighbors.

Everyone will have access to a good diet of organic, locally grown foods.

Girls will have a new sense of self-esteem. They’ll be healthier physically. They’ll have bonds with mentors. They’ll have better attention spans in school and there will be no more primary school pregnancies.

Finally, Zamani becomes known as an ecovillage and a model for townships in South Africa. Workers join the middle class and build their own homes. Rich folks from the city take notice and build weekend and retirement homes, along with guest houses and trendy local-food restaurants. In turn, this further supports entrepreneurship and closes the loop of employment in construction, hospitality, services, organic agriculture, and ecotourism. Visitors come from overseas. Now Memel rocks!